Case transfer not possible after indictment, IHC told

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that case transfer is not possible after the accused is indicted.

The two-member bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, resumed hearing the plea of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to transfer the two remaining corruption references against him to another court.

NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, in his arguments, said that once the accused is indicted then the reference cannot be transferred. “The reference is in its last stages; thereby, the high court will have to decide on this matter now.”

The NAB prosecutor contended that Judge Mohammad Bashir had been hearing the defence’s arguments in Al-Azizia and Flagship references for 10 months. “A good lawyer can change a judge’s mind through solid arguments,” he said.

Justice Aurangzeb observed that the evidence was interlinked all three corruption references. “How can these interrelated facts be separated? This case is not an ordinary in nature. It cannot be compared to the cases we hear on a daily basis,” he noted.

The NAB prosecutor then pointed out that the defence had not petitioned in the Supreme Court against rejection of the plea to club all three references. “A judge cannot be removed from a case just because they have decided on a previous case,” said Abbasi. “If this precedent is set, then hearing cases of similar nature will become difficult. A new judge will have to be appointed for every other case.”

The court then adjourned the hearing till Wednesday (August 8). Legal counsel for former premier Nawaz Sharif had filed an appeal, requesting the court to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references from the court of Accountability Judge-I Mohammad Bashir to another accountability court. The Sharif family had also petitioned against their convictions in the Avenfield reference.